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Cherry to return to the Walker

Walker Associate Registrar Joe King says the cherry was stripped to its bare metal, then recoated with about 80 gallons of a fairing compound which was hand-sanded to the correct shape.

"So all of this was applied to the cherry," King says. "(It) is about 245 square feet, and then sanded, sanded, sanded, several coats of primer went on to make sure we have the shape perfectly, then a coat of gray primer and two coats of red and a coat of clear."

King says the compound used is designed for boat hulls.

"It's an immersion grade fairing compound," King says. "Since the Cherry is covered with water 8 for months of the year, we thought it was important to have something that was rated for use underwater. So actually both the paint and the fairing compound are rated for uise on the hulls of ships."

The Cherry will be reinstalled sometime between 11:30 and noon. King says he's hoping the new finish will last for about 30 years.

Gallery

A longer view of the cherry-less spoon.MPR photo/Euan KerrView full galleryCherry installation at the Sculpture Garden in 1988.Image courtesy Walker Art CenterThe Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The sculpture was created by the husband-and-wife artistic team of Claes Oldenberg and Coosje van Bruggen. Coosje van Bruggen passed away on Saturday, January 10, 2009. She was 61 years old.MPR Photo/Steve Mullis